Joan Osborne still one of us

In the years since her most famous song, “One of Us,” became a radio hit in 1995, Joan Osborne’s kept busy and kept a low profile, and grown her fan base in pockets.

Chad Berndtson

In the years since her most famous song, “One of Us,” became a radio hit in 1995, Joan Osborne’s kept busy and kept a low profile, and grown her fan base in pockets.

It’s been fascinating to trace her career arc since the “One of Us” days: her associations with the surviving members of the Grateful Dead; her country, blues, soul and folk experiments; her work with Motown sidemen the Funk Brothers; and any number of guest appearances and one-off projects.

Given that range, no outlet for Osborne seems strange, least of all an acoustic duo, where her gorgeous vocals are put front and center. It’s that format she’s touring with - just Osborne and her pianist, Keith Cotton.

“It just turned out to be something so fun and interesting musically, so I thought, ‘wow,’” said Osborne. “There are songs that I haven’t done with my band before, because they’re just not workable within a larger band situation, that I can do here. And the songs I do have with the band I do in a much more stripped-down way, and find nuances that I hadn’t heard before.”

She’ll be covering as much of her career as possible, she said.

“I try to do at least one song from each of my albums, and then covers that I’ve either not done before or that I haven’t done in a long time. You never know what’s going to be somebody’s favorite, and there’s a wealth of material by now, plus things that people suggest to me,” Osborne said. “I’ve done a few of these shows now and it has a very intimate feel where the audience is in your lap, it’s like you’re in their living room. People will shout requests and talk to us, and it’s different than a normal show.”

Grateful Dead or Dead-associated songs are one category often requested of Osborne. She gained new fame after 2003 from fans who in some cases hadn’t heard much about her. She spent that year with the Dead during one of their surviving-member reunion tours, as well as installments in 2005 and 2006 of Phil Lesh & Friends, the Dead bassist’s chameleonic collective.

She still chats with Dead members from time to time, Osborne said, and remembers the experience fondly.

“I was learning new songs every day, and able to see that whole phenomenon from a very privileged position,” she said. “It’s a very unique phenomenon in American music, and there were a lot of bands that have followed in their footsteps. I always wondered whether I’d be accepted, but you find out from the fans that their attitude is, whoever is helping bring that music back to them is something they’re usually happy about.”

Up next for Osborne – second to mothering her 5-year-old daughter – is a new album called “Love and Hate.” It doesn’t yet have a release date and isn’t quite finished, she said, but it’s on tap.

Apart from scattered duo or band dates, she also has a side project in the works with a few friends: guitarist Jimmy Herring (who toured with Osborne in the 2003 Dead, and now shreds for Widespread Panic), Black Crowes drummer Steve Gorman (whose main band starts a hiatus at the end of this year), and Nashville sessions staple Audley Freed (a former Crowe whose long resume also includes stints with the Dixie Chicks and Aerosmith’s Joe Perry.)

All of her various strands might seem disparate, but to Osborne it all makes perfect sense in a career that’s been pleasantly scattered.

“You keep building your name all the time,” she said. “So in one way, if you’ve done enough you can let that rest and also do things for your fun and enjoyment.”